William sawyer



(ModL) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

- W. SAWYER.

- Switch for Electric Lamps.' No. 237,608. Patented Feb. 8,1881.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM SAWVYER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO EASTERN ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF MIDDLETOWN, (JON N SWITCH FOR ELECTRIC LAMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 237,608, dated February 8, 1881. Application filed August 21, 1880. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM SAWYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Switches for Electric Lamps 5 and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it'appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, and to letters or figures of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Myinvention relates to electric-light switches.

Primarily, the object of the invention is to provide a simple and effective means for increasing or decreasing or turning off or on the electric current flowing through a system of electric lights; secondly, a switch for electrio lamps, whereby the current flowing to the system may be increased or decreased, and at same time will automatically regulate or preserve the equilibrium of the circuit when a lamp (or lamps) is cut out, or when only a portion of the main-line current passes through said lamp or lamps; thirdly, the production of a switch which shall avoid any possibility of the operator receiving a shock from the current while in the act of increasing or decreasing the electric current or lighting or extinguishing the lights.

The details of construction and method of operating the device will be more fully described in the specification, and shown in the drawings forming a part of the specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the inclosing-case and rotating switch-cap; Fig. 2, a section on the line 00 at, Fig. 1; Fig.3, a plan view of the interior of switch and contactpieces, the inclosing-case being removed. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are detail views of the switch-piece and rotating shaft 5 Fig. 7 a plan view of the Fig. 8 is a plan view of same, taken in connection with the regulator shown in Letters Patent No. 230,345, granted me J uly 20, 1880.

In practice it has been found difficult to make a sufficiently good contact between the different parts without introducing a high resistance, and therefore causing the current to heat the several parts. Where the parts of a switch are separated and insulated from each other the operator is liable to receive violent shocks when manipulating the switch, and an ordinary switch-spring connection soon loses its tension from heat, and is thereby rendered useless for the purpose. Again, in other forms of switches the operator, in turning the switch,

is liable to break the continuity of the circuit by pulling off the contact-point, and thereby create an electric are which will ultimately destroy the apparatus. By the improvements in my present device I avoid these difficulties by making the circuit independent of the ma- 6 nipulator, as he can only change the resistance and direction of the current, without being able to break the current.

Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings, both the movable switch A and the contact-plates B B B, which are traversed by said swicth, are so large in cross-section that they offer no appreciable resistance to the passage of the current. The shaft 0, which moves the switchpiece A, is limited in its movement by the stop-pin S.

In Figs. 1 and 2, F represents the rotating switch-cap which rotates the shaft 0, having the slot 0. The metallic switch-piece A is loosely fastened to the shaft 0 by means of a pin, Z), passing through a suitable aperture in switch-piece A, and through slot 0 of shaft 0. The switch'piece A has a shoulder, d, somewhat thinner than the central portion; but this shoulder is not essentially necessary, but is here used simply to reduce the dimensions of the switch-piece.

G represents a cup'shaped metallic inclosing-case, having one end, G, somewhat smaller than the other end, G, and provided at the smaller end with an aperture, g, through which passes one extremity of shaft 0. The opposite end of said shaft passes through a disk, D, of wood fiber, vulcanite, or other suitable insulating material, which fits in the larger end of the inclosing-case G. Within the small end of the inclosing-oase a spiral spring, H, is placed around shaft 0, which exerts a pressure against the switch-piece, and causes the latter to make a firm contact with the metal contact-plates I I00 B B B, which are fixed, by pins or screws to, to surface of the insulating-disk D, Fig. 3.

The shoulder d rests against the inner edge of the metal plates B B B, and the flat portion of the switch-piece rests on the surface of said contact-plates, and thereby makes perfect metallic contact.

In Fig. 7 a conductor leading from the pole of a generator of electricity is connected to metal plate I, a branch wire, 4, from said pole being connected to one terminal of an electric lamp, L, the other terminal of said lamp being in metallic connection with the pole of said generator by wire 5, the pole being also in metallic connection with the metal plate B. The plates B B are connected together by a wire, g, with a resistance of one ohm, and the plates B B are connected together by a wire, h, with a resistance of two ohms. It will be seen that when switch-piece A, Fig. 7, is hearing on plate I and plate B no current flows to the lamp; but by moving A to B the current would be equally divided, one portion flowing from the pole, through wire 5, lamp L, and wire 4, to the pole, the other portion flowing from the pole to plate B, resistance g, plate B, switch-piece A, plate I to the pole, and the lamp gives about onefourth its light. Now, with A bearing on contact-plates I and B, the current divides in the proportion ofone-fourth via pole to plate B, resistances g and h, plate B, switch-piece A, and plate I to the pole, and the lamp gives about three-fourths its light. Again, with the switch-piece A in the position as shown in Fig. 7, the whole of the current passes through lamp L and produces the full light. The switch is adapted to work in connection with the automatic regulator before referred to.

As shown in Fig. 8, 0 represents a generator of electricity, one pole of which is connected to the automatic arm A, the other pole of which is connected by wire 6 to plate B, and by a branch wire, 5, leading to one terminal of the lamp L. The other terminal of said lamp is connected by wire 7 to a series of contact-plates, l 2 3 4 5, 850., which are in metallic connection by coils R B of different resistances. The branch wire 8 connects the plate I of the switch to wire 7, connected to the lamp.

The automatic contactarm A and the contact-plates 1 2 3, 850., connected together by the resistances It R, constitute my regulatingsystem, hereinbefore referred to. For instance, when the switch-piece A short-circuits the lamp by resting on I and B the contact-arm A, automatically operated, would rest on R,

and all of the resistances R Rwould be in circuit. Suppose, however, that the switch-piece A is moved to B, thereby introducing a resistance in the circuit, the contact-arm A of the automatic regulator would move to R thus removing from the circuit a corresponding amount of resistance, and the equilibrium is again restored. Again, suppose the switchpiece A is caused to make contact with plates I and B, the contact-arm A is automatically moved and makes contact with R again removing from the circuit a resistance correspondin g to that introduced by the movement of switch-piece A.

The automatic regulator (shown in the present instance as A) and resistances 1 2 3 4, 850., may be employed not only to remove resistances from the circuit as lamps are introduced in the circuit, but may be so arranged as to increase the speed of the electric generator, so as to increase its electro-motive force, or to couple together other machines, so as to increase the supply of electricity in proportion to the requirements necessary.

I make no claim in this application for the regulator just described, but reserve it as the subject-matter of a future application.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim is- 1. In an electric-lamp switch, substantially as described, the combination of an insulated plate, to which is secured a series of contactplates, a traversing switch-arm inclosed in a fixed metallic case, with a shaft which operates the traversing switch-arm and a metallic cap secured to said shaft, substantially as described.

2. In an electric-lamp switch, the combination of an insulated plate, D, having the stoppin S and the contact-plates B B B, with the switch-piece A, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the switch-piece A, slotted shaft 0, spring H, and recessed case G, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the switch-piece A, shaft 0, secured to said switch-piece, with the spring H, recessed inclosing-case G, and movable cap F, secured to the outer end of the cap, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of three witnesses.

WM. SAWYEB.

Witnesses:

LEONARD SAwYEu, G. G. THATOHER, JOHN F. TAPSOO'IT. 

